Lake Gibson wins District 2A-7 Duals title

Saturday

Jan 12, 2019 at 4:21 PMJan 12, 2019 at 4:21 PM

LAKELAND — The biggest story at the District 2A-7 Duals wasn’t a huge upset. It was the absence of perennial wrestling power Brandon.

Host Lake Gibson defended its district title on Saturday, winning the meet after topping Pasco 71-12 in the final and turning back Winter Haven 69-12 in a second-round match. Both Lake Gibson and Pasco advance to the first and second rounds of the regional tournament, tentatively scheduled at Lake Gibson for 6 p.m. next Saturday because of a scheduling conflict at Tampa Jesuit.

“It feels good to start out the process like this. We got out of here healthy but we were a little disappointed we didn’t get some of the match-ups we wanted,” said Lake Gibson head coach Danny Walker.

The Braves will face District 8 runner-up Tampa Robinson, while Pasco will square off against District 8 champion Tampa Jesuit. The winners will meet in round two the same night. The overall victor will advance to the FHSAA Duals state tournament Jan. 25-26 at Kissimmee Osceola. The Braves won the inaugural 2A Duals state championship at Osceola last year and then followed by winning the 2A individual-bracketed tournament in March at Sliver Spurs Arena — both firsts in the program's history.

There are 11 teams in District 7 and only five competed at the tournament. Brandon’s absence was the biggest surprise. The Eagles hold the state records with 28 state championships and 16-consecutive state championships.

“You have an option to opt out, which Armwood had done,” Walker said. “We were not told Brandon was not coming. We sent out emails too and did not here back from them. It is a little disappointing because we wanted some of those match-ups. But it is what it is."

The Braves utilized 21 wrestlers to win the district title. Walker pointed to Curtis Felton, fresh up from junior varsity, grappling his way to a 10-2 major decision over Winter Haven senior Brennon Byrd in a 145-pound match, and Alex Rosario’s 20-4 tech-fall win against the Blue Devils' Carson Rudd in a 138 match as the highlights. It was the first match for Rosario, who had been recovering from illness, since Dec. 7.

Winter Haven opened the meet with a sound 27-16 win over Auburndale to reach the semifinals, while Pasco turned back Wesley Chapel 58-12 in another first-round pairing. The Bloodhounds tied Wesley Chapel 30-30 in a consolation dual and picked up the criteria tie-breaker for having the most pins — two.

“We knew some guys couldn’t wrestle like our best wrestler Ethan Andress,” Winter Haven coach Randy Pritchard said. “He was injured a few weeks ago. Noah Berto, whose father passed away last month, came back and got a pin in his first match up since the break. That was big. Our seniors got beat but they made weight and are doing well. Carson Rudd and Brennon Byrd, those guys are going to be in the mix when we get to the end of this (season).”

Pasco topped Winter Haven 53-17 in the final dual of the day to reach the regional tournament.

Bill Kemp can be reached at Bill.Kemp@theledger.com; follow him on Twitter @BillKempSports

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